Weed Wrench

By: William Matthias
U.S. Patent No. 4,856,759

	Weed Wrench™ is a manually-operated, all-steel tool designed to remove woody plants by uprooting.
	Powerful jaws with an 18:1 gripping leverage are teamed with a 6:1 leverage for pulling.
	Proven effective from coast to coast, Weed Wrench is an efficient, safe, selective, permanent means of eliminating unwanted shrubs and sapling trees.
	Soil disturbance is minimal and desirable plants are unharmed.
	Persons of ordinary strength can use it effectively after only seconds of familiarization.
	*And it's fun! An important part of Weed Wrench's success has been that most people find it fun* to use.**

Tom Ness field testing
the first Weed Wrench, July 17, 1988.

The Story...

One Sunday in June, 1988, I was working with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area's Habitat Restoration Team (HRT) in the Marin Headlands north of San Francisco. Although there was a large amount of the alien invasive shrub, French broom, in the ravine where we were working, it wasn't the plant we were targeting, partly because we had no practical way of removing it in our tool inventory. When two volunteers tried to pull one one up anyway, they strained mightily together and then fell on their butts when the shrub finally broke loose. Watching this gave me the classic "there has to be a better way" response and I went home to my shop wondering what I could weld together that would give HRT the tool we needed to tackle this problem. The Weed Wrench was born.

Unaware that nearly every part of the country has its own invasive woody plant problem, I thought I would make a few tools for the local area and that would be that.......

All these years and thousands of tools later, the enthusiastic and grateful acceptance of Weed Wrench nationwide continues to grow. I am pleased to keep making this tool for all the land stewards, public and private, who are working to restore habitat, reduce fire hazards, check invasive woody plant infestations, or just keep a pretty wildflower meadow open. You have a been a wonderful group of people to work for.

Tom Ness, Weed Wrench Designer & Manufacturer

HEAVY
Jaw Capacity:	Up to 2.5"
Height:	60 inches
Weight:	24 lbs.
Price:	$189.00
MEDIUM
Jaw Capacity:	Up to 2"
Height:	53 inches
Weight:	17.5 lbs.
Price:	$155.00
LIGHT
Jaw Capacity:	Up to 1.5"
Height:	43 inches
Weight:	11.5 lbs.
Price:	$130.00
MINI
Jaw Capacity:	Up to 1"
Height:	24 inches
Weight:	5.25 lbs.
Price:	$82.00

The strengths of the four Weed Wrench models have been designed and extensively field tested so each model can uproot any plant up to its maximum jaw capacity without breaking. All materials and workmanship are guaranteed for normal usage. There are four ways we know of (explained in the user information sheet supplied with each tool) that an operator can damage the tool but all are easily avoided and all are fixable. In fact, the all-steel construction of Weed Wrench makes any conceivable damage fixable at any welding shop.

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Will the Weed Wrench tool work for my job?

Generally, Weed Wrench will uproot any plant if the jaws will fit around the stem, and the tensile strength of the stem exceeds the anchoring strength of the roots.

	It will work on virtually all woody plants. Jaw placement is easiest on straight, vertical stems and becomes trickier (but not impossible) on multi-stemmed plants or plants that lay flat against the ground.
	It will work on some herbaceous plants if the stem is fibrous and tough enough so the roots pull out before the stem is crushed to the breaking point.
	It will work on previously cut off plants when a stub of the original stem is accessible. It will pull wooden tree stakes for re-use. It will not work on soft-stemmed plants. It will not work on plants which grow in a clump like pampas grass.
	Following are just some of the plants Weed Wrench has proven effective against:

acacia	eucalyptus	tamarisk	French broom
privet	buckthorn	multiflora rose	honeysuckle
Scotch broom	Norway maple	gorse	conifers
manzanita	Russian olive	willow	holly

Weed Wrench is best used on shrubs and trees where uprooting is a positive end to that plant. It can also be helpful for a first-round root removal of plants like blackberry vine or poison oak. With such plants, keep in mind that it will take follow-up work to control underground root fragments that send up new growth.

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Choose a Weed Wrench size with a jaw capacity that matches the maximum diameter of stem on your target plants. The weight of the tool is an important consideration, and it is usually best to choose a size no larger than is necessary to get your job done. There are some exceptions to the largest-stem-diameter rule:

• If you will be pulling multi-stemmed shrubs, a larger jaw capacity can be useful for gripping bundles of stems.

• When most of the stems you need to grip will fit in a smaller tool's jaws and only the exceptional plant exceeds that size, you may prefer a lighter Weed Wrench and use some other removal method for the exceptions.

• You may like a tool that never takes "no" for an answer. Larger Weed Wrench models have more leverage and pulling power; if the weight doesn't bother you, you may prefer using one that makes your average target plant jump out of the ground effortlessly.

In our experience on volunteer teams, the Heavy model is best for larger persons or at least persons with plenty of spunk. The Medium model can be handled quite well by people of medium strength and stature. The Light model is easy and fun used by anyone, including children, while still having an impressive capacity.

Of the four models, the larger three are operated from a standing position, and they include a jaw-catch feature that holds the jaw open during placement around stems. The Mini model is operated from a bending, kneeling, or sitting position and has no jaw catch feature, since it is easier to operate the jaw by hand. All Weed Wrench sizes have jaws that will close to zero, so they will work on any stem size from their maximum jaw capacity down to the smallest plant.

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Shipping and Packaging Rates

Shipping charges vary by weight and distance. The typical rates shown below are for shipping single tools. If we ship multiple tools to the same address, the unit cost for shipping is considerably lower. We will set your actual shipping charge when we process your order.

WE SHIP EVERYTHING BY UPS OR US POSTAL SERVICE.

Typical charges run like the SAMPLE SHIPPING RATES in this chart:

Zip Code Range	HEAVY	MEDIUM	LIGHT	MINI
00040-58799	$30.00	$27.00	$24.00	$16.00
58800-59999	$25.00	$23.00	$21.00	$15.00
60000-79999	$28.00	$25.00	$22.00	$15.00
80000-99499*	$22.00	$19.00	$18.00	$13.00
*Alaska/Hawaii	$60.00	$50.00	$38.00	$20.00

We ship Weed Wrench disassembled, the handle in a long tube and the head in a carton. Sometimes the two packages are separated during transit, so if they don't arrive on the same day, look for the straggler a day or two later. Assembly requires simply drifting the two pivot pins into place, and snapping in four E-clips to secure them.

Ordering

To place your order, phone us toll-free at 877.484.4177

OR you may print out the order form.

Payment by VISA/MasterCard, check or money order is welcome.

Purchase Orders are also accepted by phone, fax or mail.

To go to the Order Form click here!

The order form is in Acrobat.
If you don't have the program, download it for free at:

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